Free online events on reimagining accessibility and creating more inclusive classrooms this May

With May 17th marking the seventh Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we all have an opportunity to raise awareness around accessibility in the digital world. In honor of this day and to help create more inclusive digital environments, register today to watch a short film on May 17th and discover modern approaches to reimagining accessibility. The film features IT and accessibility leaders from Microsoft and our partners: US Business Leadership Network, Be. Accessible, TD Bank Group, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

In addition, we’re teaming up with the State of Washington’s Special Education Technology Centerto help you inspire confidence in your students and develop content with inclusivity in mind. In a series of short and free webinars this May, we’re asking our expert hosts to highlight the benefits of Microsoft Learning Tools, Office 365 and Windows 10 assistive technologies in crafting inclusive, engaging content for your class.(To learn more about the Special Education Technology Center and other training opportunities, visit their website.)

Improving reading and writing with Microsoft Learning Tools

Did you know Microsoft offers free tools that implement proven techniques to improve reading and writing for people regardless of their age or ability? Learning Tools are built into Microsoft Office 365 applications such as OneNote, Word and Outlook and can be used when reading webpages, ePubs and PDFs in the Edge Browser. They can read text out loud, break it into syllables, and increase spacing between lines and letters.

Learning Tools help build confidence for emerging readers learning to read at higher levels, offer text decoding solutions for students with learning differences such as dyslexia and increase fluency for English language learners or readers of other languages.

Mike Tholfsen is a Principal Product Manager on the Microsoft Education team focusing on Learning Tools and OneNote Class/Staff Notebooks, and Microsoft Teams for Education. He is passionate about education and has been regularly working with students and teachers around the world over the past ten years to create products that improve student outcomes.

Enhancing productivity with Windows 10 assistive technologies

Did you know Windows 10 offers assistive technologies built-in to help you learn, work and play in your preferred way? Get introduced to Windows 10 ease of access settings such as Narrator, Magnifier, Color Filters, Eye Control, Read Aloud and Dictation to enhance your productivity and creativity.

Presenter: Jiaxin Zheng, Product Marketing Manager, Windows 10

Jiaxin Zheng is Product Marketing Manager who shapes and evangelizes the work Microsoft is doing to enhance the accessibility of Windows 10. She focuses on making Windows experiences more empowering for everyone, including the billion plus people living with disabilities. She is passionate about the power of technology to create more inclusive experiences and help everyone reach their full potential.

Creating inclusive and engaging content with Office 365

Office 365 can help you create more inclusive communications and ensure your content poses no barriers for those who use assistive technologies. Help ensure digital inclusion for the 1 billion+ people with disabilities on the planet by making your documents, presentations, emails and meetings accessible. Learn how to present with automatic live captions using the Microsoft Garage Presentation Translator add-in, embed audio/video with closed captions in PowerPoint and Sway, add alternative text descriptions to visual objects in Office 365 leveraging auto-generated descriptions for photographic images, transform printed text into searchable Office files with OCR via Office Lens and make text content easy to navigate with built-in accessible styles and templates.

Malavika Rewari is a Senior Product Marketing Manager who shapes and evangelizes the work Microsoft is doing to enhance the accessibility of Office 365. She is passionate about enabling productivity and digital inclusion for people of with disabilities, and shares details about Microsoft’s accessible technologies at Microsoft.com/Accessibility. With degrees in Engineering from National University of Singapore and Business and Design from Kellogg School of Management, she offers expertise to help the Microsoft 365 team create feasible, viable and desirable technologies.